A white retired firefighter who burst out of his suburban Detroit house and shot at a black teenager who was asking for help to find his way to school was sentenced Tuesday to at least four years in prison.Jeffrey Zeigler, 53, said he has "full remorse and regret" over the incident last spring in Rochester Hills. The mother of 14-year-old Brennan Walker said race was the key factor. Her son wasn't physically injured."I try to keep race out of it, but we all know that's what it was," Lisa Wright told a judge. "It's not fair for people to dislike us about something that we can't control. If there was a button I could press for me to pick what color I could be just so I wouldn't have to deal with this type of stuff, I would have to be your color so I could survive. That's not fair."Brennan said he missed a school bus on April 12 and knocked on Zeigler's door after getting lost. Zeigler's wife answered, Brennan told WDIV. "I knocked on the door, stepped back, knocked, stepped back, and then a lady came downstairs yelling at me," he said. "She asked me, 'Why are you trying to break into my house?' and I told her I was just looking for directions to Rochester High," he said. He ran after seeing a man inside the house grab a gun. A key piece of evidence: Video from a home security camera showing the boy running away and a shirtless Zeigler firing a shotgun. Smoke emerged from the barrel."That's just completely unacceptable on every level. I don't know how you would justify it, but it certainly doesn't pass the muster," said Oakland County Sheriff Michael Bouchard. A jury convicted Zeigler last month of assault and a gun crime."He almost took the life of another human being," assistant prosecutor Kelly Collins said. "That will forever stay with Brennan — forever. His perception of strangers, his perception of other people, his perception of the world."According to NBC News, the teen was uninjured in the attack but his mother said the incident will affect him "forever" and that he's in therapy indefinitely. Zeigler later apologized to Brennan's mother, saying: "I have full remorse and regret and I wish I could change something, but we can’t go back in time.”Oakland County Judge Wendy Potts sentenced Zeigler, a retired Detroit firefighter, to four to 10 years in prison, which means he'll serve four years before he's eligible to be released on parole. At trial, he said he woke up to his wife's screams and that she believed someone was trying to break into their home.Brennan didn't attend the final hearing."We moved to Rochester Hills to live in a better place, a safe place," Wright said. "But when a safer place doesn't want you there, I don't know how to process that." Potts said she took Zeigler's past into consideration. Zeigler spent more 20 years as a Detroit firefighter and was diagnosed with PTSD in 2010."Shooting at a teenager leaving your premises has consequences," said Potts. "Firemen are held in very high esteem for the services they perform ... your actions weren't in uniformity with the actions of those brave firefighters."

DETROIT —

A white retired firefighter who burst out of his suburban Detroit house and shot at a black teenager who was asking for help to find his way to school was sentenced Tuesday to at least four years in prison.

Jeffrey Zeigler, 53, said he has "full remorse and regret" over the incident last spring in Rochester Hills. The mother of 14-year-old Brennan Walker said race was the key factor. Her son wasn't physically injured.

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"I try to keep race out of it, but we all know that's what it was," Lisa Wright told a judge. "It's not fair for people to dislike us about something that we can't control. If there was a button I could press for me to pick what color I could be just so I wouldn't have to deal with this type of stuff, I would have to be your color so I could survive. That's not fair."

Brennan said he missed a school bus on April 12 and knocked on Zeigler's door after getting lost. Zeigler's wife answered, Brennan told WDIV.

"I knocked on the door, stepped back, knocked, stepped back, and then a lady came downstairs yelling at me," he said. "She asked me, 'Why are you trying to break into my house?' and I told her I was just looking for directions to Rochester High," he said.

He ran after seeing a man inside the house grab a gun. A key piece of evidence: Video from a home security camera showing the boy running away and a shirtless Zeigler firing a shotgun. Smoke emerged from the barrel.

"That's just completely unacceptable on every level. I don't know how you would justify it, but it certainly doesn't pass the muster," said Oakland County Sheriff Michael Bouchard.

A jury convicted Zeigler last month of assault and a gun crime.

"He almost took the life of another human being," assistant prosecutor Kelly Collins said. "That will forever stay with Brennan — forever. His perception of strangers, his perception of other people, his perception of the world."

According to NBC News, the teen was uninjured in the attack but his mother said the incident will affect him "forever" and that he's in therapy indefinitely.

Zeigler later apologized to Brennan's mother, saying: "I have full remorse and regret and I wish I could change something, but we can’t go back in time.”

Oakland County Judge Wendy Potts sentenced Zeigler, a retired Detroit firefighter, to four to 10 years in prison, which means he'll serve four years before he's eligible to be released on parole.

At trial, he said he woke up to his wife's screams and that she believed someone was trying to break into their home.

Brennan didn't attend the final hearing.

"We moved to Rochester Hills to live in a better place, a safe place," Wright said. "But when a safer place doesn't want you there, I don't know how to process that."

Potts said she took Zeigler's past into consideration. Zeigler spent more 20 years as a Detroit firefighter and was diagnosed with PTSD in 2010.

"Shooting at a teenager leaving your premises has consequences," said Potts. "Firemen are held in very high esteem for the services they perform ... your actions weren't in uniformity with the actions of those brave firefighters."